Coaxial engine

ABSTRACT

An engine which is composed of a piston reciprocally movable in a cylinder, the follower connected to the piston which communicates with a substantially sinusoidal groove in a sleeve, the sleeve surrounding a portion of the cylinder, a power takeoff assembly coupled to the sleeve and effects transfer of the rotational movement of the sleeve to an output shaft, the longitudinal axis of the output shaft in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the cylinder and the longitudinal axis of the sleeve and the longitudinal axis of the piston.

United States Patent [191 Williams [4 Aug. 13, 1974 COAXIAL ENGINE [76] Inventor: Bobby J. Williams, 21731 Canon Dr., Topanga, Calif. 90290 [22] Filed: Oct. 6, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 295,518

[52] U.S. Cl. 92/31 [51] Int. Cl. FOlb 3/06, FOlb 7/02 [58] Field of Search 60/97; 92/31, 136

[56] I References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,053,799 2/1913 Eslick 92/31 1,572,068 2/1926 Gould 2,291,601 8/1942 Bancroft 92/31 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Great Britain 92/31 Primary ExaminerEdgar W. Geoghegan Assistant Examiner-H. Burks Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert E. Geauque [57] ABSTRACT An engine which is composed of a piston reciprocally movable in a cylinder, the follower connected to the piston which communicates with a substantially sinusoidal groove in a sleeve, the sleeve surrounding a portion of the cylinder, a power take-off assembly coupled to the sleeve and effects transfer of the rotational movement of the sleeve to an output shaft, the longitudinal axis of the output shaft in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the cylinder and the longitudinal axis of the sleeve and the longitudinal axis of the pis- 3 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PAIENIEU nus 1-3 m4 SHEET 1 BF 2 r 1 u COAXIAL ENGINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the designing of any engine it is desirable to have maximum strength with the lowest possible weight and the maximum power withthe lowest possible weight of the engine. Most engines that have been designed are based on the internal combustion engine principle wherein a plurality of pistons are employed to effect rotation of an output shaft. The longitudinal axis of the pistonsis at a ninet y-degree angle to'the shaft which therefore causes an inherent dynamic imbalance of the engine during operation. Also an internal combustion engine is not capable of achieving a most desirable strength/weight ratio or a power/weight ratio.

Another disadvantage of the engines of the prior art is that it previously has not beensimple nor economical to build different sized engines by clustering together a number of small sized engines. Clustering together of engines of the prior art have caused the resultant formed engine to be of substantial size with such engines producing so much dynamic imbalance that clustering of such engines is considered to be prohibitive.

tion of its reciprocal movement. A'follower is fixedly connected to the piston and extends through aslot assembly exteriorly of the cylinder. A sleeve is low frictionally mounted about the exterior of the cylinder with the sleeve including a substantially sinusoidal groove which is to cooperate with the followenA ring gear assembly is formed exteriorly of the'sleeve and cooperates with a spur gear assembly which is mounted upon an intermediate shaft. The intermediate shaft is rotatably mounted within structure that is flxedt'o the cylinder. Additional gears aremounted upon.tl ie intermediate shaft which transfers the rotative movement of the sleeve to a cup-shaped housing. The cup-shaped housing is located about each end of the cylinder with the output shaft being centrally fixed to the cup-shaped housing. The longitudinal axis of the output shaft coincides with the longitudinal axis of the cylinder, sleeve and piston. The output shaft also includes valve means to regulate the supply and discharge of fluid into the cylinder. Because of the coaxial arrangement of each of the main elements of the engine ofthis invention, dynamic imbalance is significantly reduced which permits the engine of this invention to be readily clustered ingroups without fear of creating undesirable vibrational forces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION-OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view through the engine of this invention showing its internal compo-- FIG-4 is a cross-sectional view through'a portion of the structure of the engine of this invention taken along:

line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the valve which regulates the flow of fluid into the cylinder in the closed position;

. FIG. 6 is a view similar tov FIG. 4 but showingthe valve in the fluid exhaust position;

FIG. Tis a diagrammatic view showing the sinusoidal slot arrangement formed within the sleeve of the engine of this invention inaplanar relationship; y FIG. 8 is a view depicting a clustering of a plurality: of the engines of this invention in an in-line relation ship; and

FIG-9 is a view depicting the clustering of the engines of this invention in a transverse relationship.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONOF THE SHOWN EMBODIMENT Referring particularlyto the drawings, there is shown in FIG. l -th e engine 10 of this invention which is basically composedof a cylindrical shaped cylinder l2,a pistonl4 anda'sleeve' 16. Included within the cylinder 12 is a cylindrical elongated chamber 18. The pisto'n l4 is movably mounted within the chamber 18. The cylinder 12 is to be fixed'to an outside structure by mountingbrackets' 1'5. v v

Formed through the wall of the cylinder 12 intermediate its ends thereof-is a first slot 20 and a second slot 22. Connected at the'midpoint of the piston l4=and extending transversely thereof is'afollower rod 24'.The rod 24 has mounted thereon at each end thereof low frictional followers 26.- The followers 26 can be'merely cylindrical members or they can be a circular element which is supported by a bearing upon the follower rod 24. The piston is movable between a fore and an aft position within the chamber 18 with the length of movement being limited within the length of each of the slots 20 and 22. When the piston 14 is in the aftmost position, the fore .end of the piston 14 extends just forward of the; slots 20-and 22 so that there will be no direct communication between the slots 20 and 22 in- 'temally of the chamber 18. It is to be understood that with the piston 14 in the foremost position the same is true for the aft endof the piston.

The sleeve 16 surrounds a portion of the cylinder 12 and is rotatably mounted upon the cylinder 12 by means of bearings 28 and 30. A substantially sinusoidalgroove 32 is formed on the inner side of the sleeve 16. The followers 26 are each to be located within the groove 32. Because two in number of followers 26 are employed diametrically opposite each other, the groove 32 must be identically duplicated every In other words, the path that one follower 26 follows must be identical to the path that the other follower 26 is following. Therefore, a movement of the piston through a complete cycle, that is, forward and back, causes the sleeve to rotate 180. Therefore, for every two cycles of movement of the piston 14, there will be one cycle of rotation of the sleeve 16. This rotation of the sleeve 16 is caused by a camming action occurring between the followers 26 and the sleeve 16.

There can be two rods employed spaced ninety degrees apart, each having a pair of followers 26 thereon. When two'rods26 are used, the groove 32 will be duplicated every ninety degrees. v i

Exteriorly mounted upon the sleeve 16 at each end thereof is a first ring gear 34 and a second ring -gear 36.

Spur or helical gears 38 and 40 are to be in continuous contact with the first ring gear 34. In a similar manner spur or helical gears 42 and 44 are to be in continuous contact with the ring gear 36. A first intermediate shaft 46 is fixedly connected to the gears 38 and 42. A sec ond intermediate shaft 48 is fixedly connected to the gears 40 and 44. Also fixedly connected to the shaft 46 and located adjacent the gear 38 but spaced therefrom is a spur or helical gear 50. At the opposite end of the shaft 46 is fixedly connected in a similar manner gear 52. The ends of the shaft 46 are low frictionally mounted by means of bearings 54 and 56 to structure which is integral with the cylinder 12.

In a similar manner, the shaft 48 has mounted thereon adjacent its ends spur or helical gears 58 and 60. Also in a similar manner the ends of the shaft 48 are low frictionally mounted by means of bearings 62 and 64 within the same structure that is integral with the cylinder 12.

A cup-shaped housing 66 is to surround one end of the cylinder 12 with a similar cup-shaped housing 68 surrounding the other end of the cylinder 12. Housing 66 has an internal chamber 70 with the housing 68 having an internal chamber 72. Located internally of the housings 66 and 68 adjacent the periphery of the respective chambers 70 and 72 is a ring gear 74 and 76, respectively. Gears 50 and 58 are coupled to the ring gear 74 with the gears 52 and 60 being coupled to the ring gear 76.

Fixedly mounted within the center of the cup-shaped housing 66 is a first output shaft 78. In a similar manner fixedly connected to the cup-shaped housing 68 is a second output shaft 80. The longitudinal axis of the output shaft 78 and 80 are in alignment with each other and coincide with the longitudinal axis-of the cylinder 12, piston 14 and the sleeve 16.

The innermost end of the shaft 78 is rotatably supported through the wall of the cylinder 12. The innermost end of the shaft 78 includes an internal longitudinal opening 82 and a transverse opening 84 extending through the side of the shaft 78. The opening 82 directly communicates with the chamber 18.

In a similar manner the innermost end of the shaft 80 is rotatably supported withinthe opposite end of the wall of the cylinder 12. Also, the shaft 80 at its innermost end has a longitudinal opening 86 and a transverse opening 88. It is to be noted that with respect to both of the shafts 78 and 80, the transverse opening 84 will always be located diametrically opposite the transverse opening 88 and the reason for this will become apparent further on in the specification.

A housing 90 is mounted on one end of the cylinder 12 with the shaft 78 passing therethrough. The housing 90 is divided into a first chamber 92 and a second chamber 94. Chambers 92 and 94 are prevented from directly communicating with each other at all times by reason of being separated by the shaft 78. However, the transverse opening 88 during rotation of the shaft 78 is to alternately communicate with the chambers 92 and 94.

At the opposite end of the cylinder 12 and'fixedly connected thereto is a housing 96 which is similarly divided into a first chamber 98 and a second chamber 100. Again, direct communication between the chambers 98 and 100 is prevented but the opening 88 can alternately communicate with chambers 98 and 100 when the shaft is rotated.

Conduit 102 is conducted through the housing and communicates with the first chamber 92. In a similar manner a conduit 104 is conducted to the housing 90 and communicates with the chamber 94. Also, conduit 106 is conducted through the housing 96 and communicates with the chamber 98 with the conduit 108 being conducted through the wall of the housing 96 and communicates with chamber 100.

The operation of the engine of this invention as as follows: For illustrative purposes it will be assumed that conduits .102 and 106 are connected to a source, not shown, of pressurized fluid. This pressurized fluid can either be gas or liquid. Typical gases would be air, steam or products of combustion. Conduits 104 and 108 are connected to a sump in which the air or liquid is to be discharged As shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, piston 14 is in the aftmost position with the followers 26 located at separate top dead center points 110 within the groove 32. In this position the piston 14 is ready to be forced in the forward direction and in order to permit such to occur the transverse opening 88 of the shaft 80 is just beginning to communicate with the first chamber 98. The pressurized fluid is conducted to within the chamber 98 so that the fluid at this time begins to pass through the transverse opening 88 and through the longitudinal opening 86 into the aft end of the chamber 18. This will cause the piston 14 to be forcibly moved in a forward direction. This forcing of the piston 14 causes the sleeve 16'to rotate due to the camming action of the followers 26 within the groove 32.

At thefore end of the cylinder 12, the transverse openingv 84 is just beginning to communicate with the second chamber 94. The second chamber 94 communicates through conduit 104 to a sump which permits the fluid which is contained within thefore end of the chamber 18 to be discharged through the opening 82, the transverse opening 84, through the chamber 94 and into conduit 104. The discharge of the fluid contained within the fore end of the cylinder 18 is necessary in order to permit the piston 14 to move forward. Upon the piston 14 reaching the forwardmost position, the reverse situation is caused wherein the opening 84 communicates with the source of pressurized fluid through chamber 92 and the opening 88 communicates with the sump through chamber 100. As a result, reciprocal movement of the piston causes a steady, continuous rotation of the sleeve 16 in a given direction.

The rotational movement of the sleeve 16 is transmitted to the gears 38, 40, 42 and 44 which in turn causes rotation of the respective intermediate shafts 46 and 48. The rotation of the intermediate shafts 46 and 48 is transmitted through gears 50, 52, 58 and 60 to the housings 66 and 68. This in turn causes rotation of the output shafts 78 and 80.

It is envisioned that the inertial movement of the sleeve 16 will cause the followers 26 to pass the top dead center positions 1 10 of the groove 32 without encountering any difficulty. However, it may be desired to insert a leaf spring 1 12 at each top dead center point 110 which will exert a bias upon a follower 26 tending to move such past the top dead center point.

Referring particularly to FIG. 8 of the drawings, the engines 10 of this invention may be readily clustered together at an in-line direction wherein an output shaft 80 is connected to an output shaft 78 of another engine and so forth so that two through an endless number of such engines may be connected together. In order to insure smooth operation in such a clustering arrange ment, the engines can be staggered with respect to each other so that only at one given instance will the followers 26 of one engine be located at a top dead center point within the groove 32 with the followers of the other engines being located intermediate the-top dead center points.

Referring particularly to FIG. 9 of the drawings, it is possible to transfer the power directly from the gears 38, 40, 42 and 44 through the use of a pair of enlarged gears l 14 which are fixedly connected to a driven shaft 1 16. This clustering arrangement is not in an in-line position but permits the engines 10 of this invention to be clustered in a side by side relationship. As a result, one of the advantages of the engine of this invention is that it can be clustered in different ways which is to be dictated by particular space requirements. Because of the coaxial arrangement of the parts of each engine 10, the undesirable vibrational forces of each engine are exceedingly minimal and therefore when a plurality of the engines 10 are clustered together, the overall undesirable vibrational forces are also minimized. It is to be understood that the cylinders 12 in FIGS. 8 and 9 will be mounted to a separate fixed structure by mounting brackets 15.

What is claimed is:

1. An engine comprising:

a fixed cylinder having an internal chamber, said cylinder having a longitudinal central axis, said cylinder being closed at each of its longitudinal ends; a piston movably retained within said chamber,

means to conduct fluid alternately into said ends of said chamber to cause said piston to reciprocally move within said chamber;

a sleeve surrounding a portion of said cylinder and rotatably mounted thereon, the longitudinal central axis of said sleeve coinciding with said longitudinal central axis of said cylinder, cam and follower means connecting said sleeve and said piston, said cam and follower means causing rotational movement of said sleeve, an output shaft means connected to said sleeve, whereby the rotational movement of said sleeve is transferred to said output shaft means; and

said cam and follower means comprises a substantially sinusoidal slot formed within said sleeve and a follower rod connected to said piston, a single pair of diametrically opposed slots formed within said cylinder, said follower rod passing through said slot means into cooperation with said sinusoidal groove within said sleeve, the length of said slots to be substantially equal to the sum of the positive and negative amplitude values of said sinusoidal slot.

2. The engine as defined in claim 1 wherein:

said groove having a plurality of top dead center points, a leaf spring means located within said groove adjacent each of said top dead center points, whereby said spring assists in movement of said follower past said top dead center points.

3. The engine as defined in claim 1 wherein:

said output shaft means includes a ring gear assembly externally mounted on said sleeve, the moment of the torque created about said cylinder being zero. 

1. An engine comprising: a fixed cylinder having an internal chamber, said cylinder having a longitudinal central axis, said cylinder being closed at each of its longitudiNal ends; a piston movably retained within said chamber, means to conduct fluid alternately into said ends of said chamber to cause said piston to reciprocally move within said chamber; a sleeve surrounding a portion of said cylinder and rotatably mounted thereon, the longitudinal central axis of said sleeve coinciding with said longitudinal central axis of said cylinder, cam and follower means connecting said sleeve and said piston, said cam and follower means causing rotational movement of said sleeve, an output shaft means connected to said sleeve, whereby the rotational movement of said sleeve is transferred to said output shaft means; and said cam and follower means comprises a substantially sinusoidal slot formed within said sleeve and a follower rod connected to said piston, a single pair of diametrically opposed slots formed within said cylinder, said follower rod passing through said slot means into cooperation with said sinusoidal groove within said sleeve, the length of said slots to be substantially equal to the sum of the positive and negative amplitude values of said sinusoidal slot.
 2. The engine as defined in claim 1 wherein: said groove having a plurality of top dead center points, a leaf spring means located within said groove adjacent each of said top dead center points, whereby said spring assists in movement of said follower past said top dead center points.
 3. The engine as defined in claim 1 wherein: said output shaft means includes a ring gear assembly externally mounted on said sleeve, the moment of the torque created about said cylinder being zero. 